Aftermath

                                    

                                          
The next morning I wake up with Chris holding my hand as he sleeps on the small chair next to my bed. I notice a nurse coming in to check on me.
She offers me a polite smile as she goes through all her checks. "I know this is probably going to feel like a silly question, but how are you feeling this morning?"
I exhale a laugh as I give her a sad smile. "As well as can be expected. My head hurts, and I keep having nightmares of what happened."
She gently nods before offering me a small smile. "Thank goodness they were able to get to you before he could do much worse."
I sadly nod as I say a silent prayer and try to keep my tears at bay. "Hey, I know this is going to sound easy to hard and hard to do, but don't let him win. Show him how tough you are, and that all he did was make you stronger."
I smile up at her as tears now freely fall from my eyes. "Thank you." 
She gently rubs my hand before starting to walk out. "By the way, if you're feeling up to it, you have some visitors waiting outside."
I nod in agreement before I turn to Chris. "Baby, wake up."
He jolts awake and looks at me with a tired smile. "Good morning, doll. Did you sleep well?"
"As well as I could considering the nightmares." I look down ashamed.
"Hey, none of that okay? You didn't do anything wrong, this is not your fault. We'll work through this okay baby? And you'll walk out stronger than you already are." He softly kisses my lips while he holds my cheeks in his hands.
I feel him brushing away the tears that are silently falling. "I love you Chris."
"I love you so much Charlie. I'm here for you for anything you need doll."
He looks so sincere that I almost cry from just feeling his love for me. "Thank you. For everything."
He doesn't answer, he doesn't have to. He just softly kisses me again. We hear the door open and we look up to find my mother with tears in her eyes and my father with concern all over his face.
They rush over to me and my mom pulls me for a hug. "Oh, my baby! How are you feeling?"
Mom bursts out into tears which makes me start to cry too. She just holds me tighter as we both cry. "Hey Charlie bear. Have you had any breakfast yet?"
I shake my head no as I give my dad a small smile as he squeezes my hand. "Alright, well how about me and Chris go get you something to eat, and you two can have some time alone?"
I look at Chris who nods and kisses the top of my head before walking out with dad. I look back at my mom and she looks at me with sorrowful eyes. 
"Now that it's just us, let it all out baby." I just pull her in for another hug as I sob into her shoulder.
"He caught me completely by surprise. He knew exactly what he was going to do! He locked the door mama! He was going to get what he wanted no matter the cost! I can't believe he would think that it was okay to do that! Like he was justified because I'm one of the nurses on his floor! Do you know what he said to me? He said he was to get what should've been his instead of Chris', like he had some right over me because he saw me first! What kind of sick thought is that?" My face is red and my swollen eye hurts.
Mom just keeps holding me tighter as she rubs my back gently rocking us. She starts to softly hum to me which helps me calm down. I feel safe in my mother's arms. Just enjoying the sound of her voice and her patience. I didn't realize I needed her this badly right now.
Chris and dad walk back into the room softly talking carrying bags of food with them. Chris turns to me and softly smiles. He puts down one of the bags on the small table in the corner of the room, and starts taking food out.
"We made a quick trip to Mike's to get breakfast. I got you some scrambled eggs with biscuits and gravy. I know you always call that your comfort food, so I figured you would want that." I smile at his thoughtfulness. 
"Thank you baby. Did you call my parents too?" He smiles sheepishly.
"Yeah, I did. I figured they needed to know what happened, and you would need them by your side too. Mike's on his way over too." I smile gratefully.
"Do you just have all of my family's contact information?" He softly laughs as he nods.
"What can I say, we got along really well when we met!" I softly laugh and feel my heart fill with thankfulness, love and admiration.
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A few hours after we had breakfast, Mike walks into the room holding blue star balloons and a stuffed wolf toy. "Hey baby sis. I brought your favorite color balloons and a stuffed version of your favorite animal."
I laugh as I wrap my arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you big bro."
He smiles as he gently runs a hand through my hair. "We've got you Char."
I nod and smile, biting my bottom lip trying not to cry. The moment is over when the door opens. We all look over to see who has joined us to find two police officers. They softly smile and nod at everyone as they enter the room.
"Ms. Harris, I'm officer Meadows and this is officer Brown, we're the ones who responded to your assault yesterday at the hospital. We just wanted to get your statement, if you are willing and ready to talk right now, if not we'll wait."
I look over at Chris who mouths. "Do what you need to."
"I'm ready to give my statement." The officers nod and take a seat as officer Meadows pulls out a notebook.
I recount what happened and I can see my dad and brother getting madder by the second, as my mom tries to contain her tears. The officers write all of it down and nod. I feel exhausted now, but it felt good getting all of that out.
"Alright Ms. Harris, you just rest up and get better. We will be charging him with sexual assault, and you will be informed if it goes to trial or not. We're sorry you had to go through this, but we will work our hardest to see that you get the justice you deserve."
I smile gratefully. "Thank you officers."
Chris stands up and walks over to me and pulls me into his arms. I breathe in his scent, feeling a peace and calm wash over me. 
My family members stay at the hospital with us, only leaving to sneak us outside food, until visiting hours are over. I try to convince Chris to go home and get a good rest, but he insists he won't be able to rest without me. He does agree to go home and pack some of his clothes and toiletries so he can shower in my hospital room shower. He also goes by my apartment to get me some essentials and a change of clothes for when I get discharged.
I'm truly grateful to him and my family in this moment. I couldn't do this without them. I know it's going to be a long road to recovery, at least mental health wise, but with them by my side I know I will get through this. And like Chris said I'll walk out of this stronger than I already am.
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